The Conversation Weekly: Kenya at 60 -- the patriotic choral music used to present one version of history
We’re bringing you an extra episode this week to share an interview from The Conversation Weekly, our sister podcast from The Conversation. As Kenya marks 60 years of independence, The Conversation Weekly explores how much one song can tell you about the politics of a new nation. Hosted by Gemma Ware at The Conversation UK, The Conversation Weekly is a show for curious minds.
Don’t Call Me Resilient · Katie Flood, Mend Mariwany, Gemma Ware, Doseline Kiguru
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Show Notes
In this episode which we're running in full, host Gemma Ware speaks with Doseline Kiguru, a research associate in cultural and literary production in Africa at the University of Bristol in the UK, who has co-published research on the history of choral music and the role it plays in Kenyan national political culture. The episode originally aired on Dec. 11.
Kenya is marking 60 years since its independence from British colonial rule on December 12, 1963. Each year, the country celebrates the occasion with a national holiday, Jamhuri Day. And for much of the past 60 years, patriotic choral music has been a regular feature of those celebrations. In this episode, Gemma and Doseline explore how much one song can tell you about the politics of a new nation -- and who controls what gets remembered and what gets forgotten.
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Further reading:
• All episodes of TC Weekly
Further Research:
Kenya's 'patriotic' choral music has been used to embed a skewed version of history
Kenya at 60: the shameful truth about British colonial abuse and how it was covered up